NBJC receives Walmart Foundation grant to advance work with HBCUs

April 4, 2018 11:10 AM

The Walmart Foundation has announced that the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) received a $250,000 grant to further its work in driving cultural competence at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and strengthening inclusion and cohesion with a focus on the Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) community. NBJC will use the grant to expand its initiative with some of the nation’s leading HBCUs, The Road to Black America Embracing LGBTQ Equality.

“NBJC is extremely grateful to the Walmart Foundation for awarding us an expansion grant, and we are even more proud of the work that we have been doing and are now in an even stronger position to continue doing to stand in gaps—highlighting the diversity within the Black community and doing work that enables Black people to stand stronger together,” David Johns, NBJC Executive Director, said. “It is imperative that Black institutions—whether HBCUs, churches and faith communities, fraternities and sororities, or traditional black civil rights organizations—be inclusive and affirming, and NBJC will continue doing the very necessary work to show up in these spaces to ensure we all make space for each other. This work is one of the many ways that we continue the legacy of Dr. King and help the black community realize the vision he had for unity and inclusiveness.”

The grant awardees were announced April 3 at the MLK50 Symposium hosted by the Walmart Foundation at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN. The event was held upon the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in an effort to both honor Dr. King’s legacy and to reaffirm the Walmart Foundation’s commitment to support organizations that are implementing solutions to our most pressing challenges and exploring new approaches to reach diverse communities who persistently lack equal access to opportunity.

“The Walmart Foundation is committed to helping advance solutions to bridge divides and build more inclusive, empathetic communities where all people have equal access to the tools and opportunities they need to reach their full potential,” said Julie Gehrki, vice president of the Walmart Foundation. “By supporting organizations working to build trust and foster cross-sector partnerships including the National Black Justice Coalition, we’re helping to build capacity for organizations and practitioners working on the front lines to help strengthen communities.”

NBJC was selected from over 150 applicants that applied through an open request for proposals issued by the Walmart Foundation as part of their larger commitment to building more inclusive and vibrant communities.

With the support of the Walmart Foundation, NBJC will build upon an eight-year partnership with HBCUs throughout the nation, like Howard University and Morehouse College, to deepen its work of developing a blueprint to support cohesion and inclusion that can be perfected, studied and replicated at other institutions. The Road to Black America Embracing LGBTQ Equality aims to support HBCUs in accelerating community cohesion and inclusion by expanding and deepening LGBTQ-inclusive cultural competence at HBCUs for administrators, faculty, staff and students.